Blood in recepient area after first head wash

[rubberduck]

Today is the 7th day after my FUE procedure and I did my first head wash.

I was told to gently massage the scalp with shampoo and leave it for 30 minutes and then wash it off gently.

I did this once and saw some white residue on the scalp. So checked with my clinic and was asked to do the head wash again.

When I did the head wash again, I noticed some spots on the scalp where I could see blood. I did not bleed profusely at any point in time.

I contacted my clinic and was told that this is normal. I'm a little worried though.

Could I have lost grafts? Thoughts?

[ciaus]

As long as you've been gentle, the grafts under the skin should be fine. But what kind of shampoo are you using? I've never head of applying a shampoo and not rinsing it off for 30 minutes. That would need to be an extremely mild shampoo to not cause skin surface irritation, if its the kind that still needs to be rinsed off. And did the doctor give you the shampoo or tell you one to buy?

[rubberduck]

I was not provided any specific shampoo by the doctor.

I was asked to used any mild shampoo and I ended up using dove shampoo.

[ciaus]

Shampoo under normal usage is just apply to hair, lather for maybe up to a minute, then rinse. The medicated shampoos for stuff like dandruff recommend leaving it on for up to 5 minutes and then rinsing.

While Dove has a general reputation for making mild/sensitive products, I don't think even they make any cleaning forumulations mild enough to leave on 30 minutes -this bottle of Dove you have does say on the side that you are supposed to rinse it off, right? I've heard of 'dry shampoos' that are never rinsed out, mostly used by women who don't want to wash their hair so much. But back to this shampoo you are using -I would imagine your scalp skin is almost completely dry within 5 minutes and the rest of that time you have the soapy residue laying on it drying it out even more, I don't see how that doesn't cause skin surface irritation.

 

Did you travel to get your procedure done? Does the doctor and their staff speak good English? nothing lost in translation as a possibility here? Did they give you printed instructions too? -Check their website if they have one and see if they have post op instructions there too. Maybe they have a new/bad receptionist.

My doc's shampooing instructions were for first 48 hrs to lather the shampoo in my hands, gently apply, and then rinse it off with cups of water or gently running water right after. Then after those two days he recommended after shampooing to apply and leave a conditioner on for up to 5 minutes, then rinsing off, to help limit scab formation.

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by ciaus

[rubberduck]

1 minute ago, ciaus said:

Shampoo under normal usage is just apply to hair, lather for maybe up to a minute, then rinse. The medicated shampoos for stuff like dandruff recommend leaving it on for up to 5 minutes and then rinsing.

While Dove has a general reputation for making mild/sensitive products, I don't think even they make any cleaning forumulations mild enough to leave on 30 minutes -this bottle of Dove you have does say on the side that you are supposed to rinse it off, right? I've heard of 'dry shampoos' that are never rinsed out, mostly used by women who don't want to wash their hair so much. But back to this shampoo you are using -I would imagine your scalp skin is almost completely dry within 5 minutes and the rest of that time you have the soapy residue laying on it drying it out even more, I don't see how that doesn't cause skin surface irritation.

 

Did you travel to get your procedure done? Does the doctor and their staff speak good English? nothing lost in translation as a possibility here? Did they give you printed instructions too? -Check their website if they have one and see if they have post op instructions there too. Maybe they have a new/bad receptionist.

My doc's shampooing instructions were for first 48 hrs to lather the shampoo in my hands, gently apply, and then rinse it off with cups of water or gently running water right after. Then after those two days he recommended leaving a conditioner on for up to 5 minutes, then rinsing off, to help limit scab formation.

 

Yes, you are right. I used one of those dove shampoos that needs to be rinsed off. The shampoo became dry after about 5 minutes of application like you said.

I was not given any printed instructions. I was told by the doctor to leave the shampoo for 30 minutes.

I have been asked to repeat the same steps tomorrow for 20 minutes. So I'll check with the clinic to make sure that I got the hair wash procedure right, before I do the second wash.

Thanks for replying. It has definitely helped in calming my nerves.

[ShadowMoon]

Just soak your head with water for 30 minutes then use the shampoo lather to help rub off the crusts for like five minutes. Soaking your head with shampoo for 20 minutes is ridiculous

[rubberduck]

On subsequent head washes, I let the water soak for some time, then applied shampoo and massaged gently and rinsed it off immediately.

All the scabs have come off after doing this. This is how my scalp looks now.

 

Thanks @ShadowMoon and @ciaus for helping out.

[LonelyGraft]

Who was your doctor?

[ciaus]

16 hours ago, rubberduck said:

On subsequent head washes, I let the water soak for some time, then applied shampoo and massaged gently and rinsed it off immediately.

All the scabs have come off after doing this. This is how my scalp looks now.

 

 

Thanks @ShadowMoon and @ciaus for helping out.

 

Glad to help, I know how anxious this time is. Following the doc's instructions to the T not only gives you some piece of mind, but a clear conscience if you are not satisfied with the results and want to confront or hold him accountable. The bottom line though is like @ShadowMoon said, leaving the shampoo on for that long is ridiculous, but at least it doesn't harm the grafts.